Manicure is far from the easiest task, which is why many women turn to specialists to do it. When using gel varnishes in salons, special lamps are used that provide quick and effective drying of varnish. However, you do not have to go to the salon to use such a lamp - you can purchase it yourself.
A hybrid lamp for nails is available in many stores and will allow you to significantly increase the effectiveness of applying manicure with gel polishes, and will also enable you to build up nails at home. However, what is this device? In this article you will learn what a hybrid lamp for nails is, why it is better to buy it, and not ordinary lamps, and also what are the advantages and disadvantages of each type.
What is this device?
Hybrid lamp for nails is a special device that allows you to dry the gel polish in minutes and even seconds. Such devices are always available in beauty salons, where they make manicures and nail extensions, but they can also be found in stores.
This means that you can freely purchase such a lamp and no longer go to the salon. However, in this case, the problem arises of the choice - which hybrid lamp for nails is better? Or would it be more appropriate to choose a single lamp rather than a hybrid? This is what will be discussed later.
Types of lamps
So, if you want to make such a purchase, then you should understand what kind of lamps are for drying nails, what is the difference between them and what are the advantages of each type of lamp.
The most basic is a UV lamp for nails, hybrids are often based on it. Ultraviolet light allows you to quickly and efficiently dry the gel polish. However, this is not the only lamp you can find in the market.
There are more powerful and effective options. Firstly, it is a fluorescent lamp that has been competing with the UV counterpart for quite some time. Well, and secondly, this is an LED lamp, which has appeared on the market relatively recently and offers the highest drying speed, but it also has its drawbacks. And at the head of everything is a hybrid lamp for nails, reviews about which are almost always positive.
What it is? This is a device that combines two or even three types of lamps, which makes it much more efficient. Well, since we are talking about reviews, you should take a closer look at them. To choose the perfect device, you need to know both about the advantages and disadvantages of each type of lamp, and reviews of users who already own this or that type of lamp for drying nails can help you figure it out.
Advantages of UV Lamps
Naturally, in the first place it is worth talking about ultraviolet lamps, since they are the most common of all. What is the reason? Users report that it often consists in the low cost of the device. Such lamps and hybrids for nail extensions, in which the main UV element, can be purchased by almost everyone, but at the same time they are quite effective.
People report that it is UV lamps that affect the largest number of materials used due to the widest range. Moreover, when using them, there is absolutely no unpleasant sensations, so a hybrid lamp for drying nails with a UV base is the right choice.
But do not rush, because everything has its drawbacks. It is enough to think about why exactly there are no unpleasant sensations. You will find the answer to this question below.
The disadvantages of UV lamps
So, if you want to have a UV lamp for drying nails, then you should understand that the absence of unpleasant sensations is due to the fact that the speed of the device is not too high. The gel polish in this device dries from one to three minutes, which is not very fast compared to other types of lamps - you will see this later.
Users also report that these lamps get very hot and therefore have a short life of just three thousand hours. This may seem like an impressive amount of time, but when compared with other types, then according to this indicator, these lamps are much inferior to competitors.
If the number of hours does not tell you anything, then you can contact those users who reported the approximate time of the device. Depending on the frequency of its use, you will have to change the lamp every six months if you use it rarely. If you use it constantly, then you will have to change the lamps much more often - approximately every two months.
For this reason, users begin to ask questions about how to make a hybrid lamp for nails, if they have both ultraviolet and LED lamps, but it is not recommended to do such things if you are not an expert in this field - the result may be sad .
Advantages of Fluorescent Lamps
What does a hybrid lamp look like for nails? Photos on the network are often only superficial, but you can also find a look inside. And then you can see that there are two types of lamps inside (or three if it is a UV-CCFL-LED hybrid).
What is the second kind after ultraviolet? These are fluorescent lamps that are smaller and more efficient. How is it shown? The fact is that, according to user reviews, they practically do not heat up, unlike ultraviolet counterparts, and at the same time serve much longer. It is extremely rare to change them, because the service life is from 30 to 50 thousand hours, that is, 10-20 times longer than that of ultraviolet lamps.
Disadvantages of fluorescent lamps
Naturally, this lamp also has drawbacks, but they are not as pronounced as the ultraviolet counterpart. Firstly, they still dry their nails for as long as one to three minutes. Secondly, they have a slightly narrower spectrum - accordingly, they may not affect some of the materials that the UV lamp can dry. Therefore, if you want to combine them, then the hybrid UV and CCFL will be extremely effective - it will be able to dry your nails efficiently, although not as fast as we would like.
Advantages of LED lamps
As you can already understand, compared to the previous two types, this lamp is the fastest. It can dry your nails in 10-30 seconds, which is much faster than 1-3 minutes in both previous cases.
However, this is not the only thing that can be distinguished from LED lamps. They also have an impressive working life that is not inferior to fluorescent lamps. Well, another important difference that many users notice in the reviews is its compact size while maintaining efficiency. Devices with LED lamps can be 2-3 times smaller than with UV lamps, but at the same time you can put a whole palm in them in the same way.
However, why then need other lamps and even hybrids if this look is so magnificent? The reason is simple - range.
Disadvantages of LED lamps
As it quickly becomes clear, LED lamps have an extremely small range, which is why they do not affect many materials, which makes their efficiency much lower. Moreover, many users report that due to the speed of exposure in the fingers, an unpleasant sensation is created, which is not in the two previous types.
And, of course, it’s worth noting the cost of the device, which is quite high. As you can see, there is no perfection in the world, but you can try to achieve it if you like some kind of hybrid lamp for nails. 36 watts is an excellent indicator in terms of energy saving, so you can focus on it. If the energy consumption is much higher, then you can not save on the purchase of such a product.
Hybrid Lamps
What are hybrid lamps for drying nails? In fact, lamps can be combined in a variety of ways, and if you want to navigate, then you need to understand what this or that type of lamp is called.
So, ultraviolet is designated as UV, fluorescent as CCFL, and LED lamps, in fact, are designated as LED. Thus, if you see a UV-CCFL device, you can be sure that this is a gel polish dryer that works with ultraviolet and fluorescent lamps.
Which combination is best to choose? It depends a lot on your budget, as well as on what functionality you want to achieve. Naturally, the most functional appliances will be the most expensive. For example, a powerful LED lamp from leading brands can cost more than $ 300, let alone hybrids that combine this lamp with a different look.
However, the most effective device is one that combines all three types - it dries very quickly and at the same time affects the entire spectrum, covering every substance used in gel varnishes. But its cost is appropriate, so if you do not manicure too often, then you are unlikely to need such a device.
If you do not need professional care for your nails on an ongoing basis, then you can choose a more affordable hybrid, for example CCFL-LED. Recently, just such devices have the highest possible popularity in the budget segment. But at the same time, you should understand that neither single lamps, nor hybrids are suitable for drying ordinary nail polish, they are intended for gel varnishes and for nail extension.